Life's Changed
by NoodleGorillaz23
Summary: Noodle has returned to Plastic Beach after many years, but too many things have changed. Will she be able to handle her new life? No pairings.
1. Back at Plastic Beach

Noodle sat in her room, thinking.

She was back at Plastic Beach, with her bandmates. She was happy about that, but she knew that she wasn't the same bubbly teenager that she was before her floating windmill crashed.

Her windmill. Her beautiful, lovely windmill.

She was thinking about her stay in Hell, and how she had escaped, which was not surprising at all, since she thought about it every single day. While the windmill was falling, she had parachuted off. Then she had seen a weird patch of darkness on front of her. Before she realized what was happening, she had gone through the dark void and landed with a bump on the ground. That was when she had noticed her surroundings. It was pitch dark, with strange patches of red light everywhere. There was a terrifying creature looming in front of her.

It was a demon.

She had managed to escape the prison the demon had locked her in, but the hard part was getting past the rest of the demons. They caught her just as she was about to escape, but she fought back with a gun she had found lying near a pool of lava. She didn't escape unscathed, though. She had a scar on her eye- a reminder of the horrors she had faced. Her bangs covered it for now, but she would have to find a better way to hide it.

She escaped through a tunnel, which she guessed led to the world above. She came crawling out- but to her surprise, she wasn't in the area where she got sucked into Hell.

She was in her homeland, Japan.

She lived there for a few years, and even bought a mask to cover her scar, but could never relax because she knew that at any moment a demon might come to drag her back to Hell. She was already starting to miss 2D, Russel and Murdoc – well, she wasn't really missing Murdoc, because he hadn't come to rescue her, but he was like an uncle to her. She missed 2D's antics, playing music with the rest of the band, going out for ice cream with Russel, even Murdoc's endless ranting. She wanted to go back home.

So she started her trip to Plastic Beach, the Gorillaz' new home. It was a long and tiring journey, but she met Russel along the way, so it wasn't so bad.

She had reached a few days back, ready to give Murdoc a few harsh words – as well as a couple of punches as soon as she had found out that 2D was imprisoned in an underwater room with a whale guarding him.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Murdoc's yelling.

'Ey, Noods, come on up! What do ya do down there, eh?'

With a small sigh, she left her room, wishing that her life hadn't changed so much.


	2. Message From a Monster

'MURDOC!' Russel bellowed.

'What did I do?' growled Murdoc.

'Leave Noodle alone for a while! Ya know what she's been through, and she's only been here for a few days!' Russel yelled back.

Just then, Noodle walked in.

'I assume you wanted me to come for practice?' She said stiffly, tugging on her mask.

Murdoc grunted. 'Yeah, so get your guitar and we'll start.' He said.

Russel sighed. He knew that Noodle still needed more time to recover from what she had faced in Hell, but he knew better than to argue with Murdoc, even if he wanted to break his nose again. So he just went over to his drum set and picked up his drumsticks.

'Right, then.' Said Murdoc. 'We're going to be playing 'Plastic Beach'. Make one mistake, faceache, and I'm locking you in the underwater room again. With the whale too, maybe.' He started cackling.

2D gave a small squeak and started trembling. Noodle glared at Murdoc. 2D was like her older brother, and she would _not_ allow Murdoc to bully him.

'Okay, Muds.' Russel said hurriedly. Let's start, shall we?'

But just before 2D was about to sing, Noodle dropped her guitar.

' Noodle?' Asked Russel. 'Is something wrong?'

Noodle started panting. She suddenly felt as though a voice was trying to speak in her mind – a hollow, raspy voice, like some sort of monster.

'Bathroom!' She gasped, and ran out of the recording studio.

She was feeling weak and tired, like the energy was being drained out of her body.

She heard the horrible voice again, this time more clearly. A dark figure, wearing a gas mask and cloak, appeared in front of her.

'Prepare yourself, girl.' The voice rasped. 'We are coming.'

Noodle collapsed on the ground and passed out.


	3. A Great Idea

Noodle woke up on her bed.

She remembered passing out after seeing a cloaked figure. What had it told her?

'_Prepare yourself, girl. We are coming.'_

She shuddered. She thought she remembered that strange voice, but couldn't make head or tail of its message to her. She got up and winced. She was covered with bruises from when she collapsed. Russel had probably found her and put her to bed.

She pushed open the door and went over to the lift. She needed a quiet place to think about what the monster had said without being disturbed. When she got in, she pressed the button that would take her to the engine room. As the lift doors closed, she tried to remember who the raspy voice belonged to. Someone she had seen in Hell...

The lift doors opened. She groaned and covered her ears with her hands as she heard the banging and crashing. This was _not_ a quiet place, but nobody would think she was here, so she decided to get out.

A sweaty, pink face looked at her from behind a machine. _It's probably Dave, _thought Noodle. She heard Murdoc complaining about him all day, even though she had never seen him. She had never got a chance to explore the rooms before.

'Ello.' Said Dave, grinning. 'You must be Noodle. What're you doing down here, young lady?'

'Hello.' Said Noodle. 'I was just exploring Plastic Beach. I haven't had much of a chance to look around.'

Dave nodded. 'Well, there ain't a lot around here, but have a look if you'd like.' He went back to bashing the machine with what looked like a frying pan.

Noodle covered her ears again. She doubted anyone _could_ think in a place like this. But then again, no one would come down here if they could help it. Then she spotted a small staircase, leading downwards. Maybe there was a quieter room down there. She quickly jogged down, hoping it would be more peaceful.

That was when she saw the cupboard.

She stared at it, her mouth agape.

It said, _Noodle's Cupboard._

_Her_ cupboard.

Why would there be a cupboard for her on Plastic Beach? Why would someone make a cupboard for her if she wasn't even there?

Slowly, she walked toward it. Maybe she could think inside. It was hers, after all.

She opened it.

But to her surprise, there was already someone inside. No, not someone. _Something._

It looked exactly like her, with bluish-purple hair covering her eyes and a military outfit. There were wires sticking out of it, making strange crackling noises.

The thing seemed to be an android version of her.

Why would there be an android version of her on the island?

Whatever the reason, it seemed to be skilled in arms. If it was good at that, then it must be good at other things that she did, like playing...

Of course. _That _was what the android was for. A replacement for Noodle. While the guitarist was missing, the android must have played guitar for the Plastic Beach album.

She even knew who had created it.

Who other than Murdoc could have done something like that?

At first, she felt upset that she had been replaced by a mere robot. But then, a great idea seemed to fly into her mind.

From the cloaked figure's message, it seemed as though demons were going to attack Plastic Beach. If this cyborg was experienced with weapons, and had all her super soldier skills, then she could use it in the battle. Maybe she could just program it- or her, since it was supposed to be Noodle- to do a few more things.

'I'll see you in the morning.' She told the cyborg.

As she walked back to the lift, she thought about what she would do. It was unlikely that the demons would attack very soon-they would need to prepare themselves, too- so early in the morning, when everyone was asleep, she would sneak down to the engine room and modify the cyborg. Only after that would she warn the rest of the band. If she told them now, they would worry too much.

When she got back to her room, she set her alarm clock to ring at 4 AM. She slipped into bed, thinking about the plan that might save Plastic Beach- and their lives.


	4. Terrible Memories

That night, Noodle had a dream.

She was back in Hell, with its lava pools and clouds of smoke. Two figures stood in front of her.

One was the figure with the gas mask and cloak. The other one appeared to be female, wearing a blue and green kimono and with flowing black hair.

''My lord.'', she told the other figure. '' The trap is set. I have set up armies everywhere except...'' She paused for a moment, looking embarrassed. ''Everywhere except France.''

The cloaked figure roared with anger. ''You set up armies everywhere except France? Foolish girl!''

''Listen, my lord! We will capture Plastic Beach, and kidnap the girl Noodle. Then, I will disguise myself as her and kill the rest of her bandmates. The girl will marry our prince, and serve him for eternity. She will never leave Hell. She won't even know, and there is little chance that she will go to France.''

''Very well then!'', Thundered the other figure. ''Prepare yourself for battle, then. Make sure there are no holes in the plan for the girl to escape through.''

''Yes, lord!''

Then, Noodle gasped, as the girl changed herself into a perfect copy of the guitarist.

Noodle's dream changed.

She was back in her cage in hell, with an old woman in front of her.

The elderly woman held a brush and some paints. She dipped her brush into the pink paint and started painting Noodle's forehead.

Unfortunately, Noodle remembered this incident. The old lady's ghost was painting a cherry blossom branch from Noodle's chin to her forehead. This way, the 'prince of hell', whoever that was, could track her down wherever she was.

The old woman had told her that she herself had faced an adventure like this herself when she was young, and she had managed to escape. She talked to Noodle gently, telling her that she didn't want to serve the prince, and that she hoped the guitarist would escape from Hell soon.

Her dream changed again.

This time she was escaping from the demons. She fired at them with the gun she had found, backing up to the hole that would lead her back to the world above.

One demon punched her eye, and she doubled over in pain. She took one last shot and leapt through the hole, only to find herself back in Japan...

Noodle woke up in cold sweat, trembling all over. The cherry blossom branch on her face was glowing.

Great. She was a human Chinese New Year lantern.

She looked at her clock, and then picked up the tool box in her cupboard.

It was time to give the Cyborg a few changes.


End file.
